Exploding toy vehicle



June 5, 1962 J. L. BONANNO EXPLODING TOY VEHICLE INVENTOR (/OSEP/l A.fio/v/w/m 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 20, 1960 7%? ATTORN EYS J L.BONANNO EXPLODING TOY VEHICLE June 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.20, 1960 ATTORNEYS FT: BY 3 INVENTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 M535 1 Bow/7mm 1%m ZZNEZ June 5, 1962 J. BONANNO EXPLODING TOY VEHICLE Filed Jan. 20,1960 3,037,772 EXPLODING TOY VEHICLE Joseph L. Bonanno, South Grange,N.J., assignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporationof New York Filed Jan. 20, 1960, Ser. No. 3,560 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-1021)The present invention relates in general to model railway cars and inparticular to a railway car capable of simulating the results of anexplosion.

In one form of the invention a toy railroad freight car with removablesides and roof portions is provided. The car bed has mounted thereon aspring biased impulse arm which is capable of being cocked and latchedin a loaded position. The car bed also contains stationary end portionswhich provide a support for a slidably engaged car roof. In operation aside wall of the toy railroad car is loosely placed in an uprightposition and is capable of inward pivotable motion to trigger theimpulse arm unlatching mechanism. The release of the impulse arm willsuccessively knock oi? the car roof and sides to thereby realisticallysimulate the effect of either an internal car explosion or the directhit by a projectile.

A safety locking bar or pin is provided to prevent accidental trippingof the spring biased impulse arm by the movable side wall during periodswhen it is not desired that the railroad car explode. When operation ofthe impulse mechanism is desired it is merely necessary to remove thelocking bar, whereupon a direct hit by a missile or severe jarring overbumpy tracks will cause the realistic simulation of the carsdestruction.

The invention provides a novel combination of parts releasably securedto a car bed and employs an impulse arm latching mechanism whichcooperates with a movable side wall of the car to effectuate triggeringof the impulse arm mechanism.

The invention also provides a novel cooperation between the safety barmechanism and the impulse arm latching mechanism.

An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a toy car capableof simulating the result of an explosion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a model railway car whichcontains a spring biased impulse mechanism and removable sides and roofportions.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a collapsiblemodel railway car which, after collapse, is capable of easyreconstruction and resetting so that a second simulated explosion may beperformed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible toy bodywhich is simple in design, realistic and neat in appearance, simple anddurable in construction and economical to manufacture.

For a better understanding of the nature of the invention, referenceshould be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the invention with the car roof removed;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view showing the underside of the car roof;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2showing the safety bar in position and the impulse arm cocked andlatched;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial section of the invention showing the impulse armpositioned at the instant of contact with the car side during itsrelease movement;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line 7-7 3,037,772 PatentedJune 5, 1962 of FIG. 6 and showing the sequential movement of the carsides and roof;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the car with the impulse arm in -afully extended position and the removable roof and sides in motion;

FIG. 9 is a partial view showing the lower side of a car base employingan alternate arm latching embodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a partial cross sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG.9.

Referring to FIG. 1, a car 10 is shown in exploded fashion with the roof12 in an artifically raised position. A trigger side wall 14 is providedwith locating studs 40 which cooperate with the apertures 38 in a carbed 18 to locate the bottom edge of the trigger side wall 14 along thecar bed. Similarly, an opposite side wall 16 is provided with locatingstuds 40 which cooperate with respective apertures 38 in the car bed 18to locate its lower edge. The spacing between the locating studs 40, 40on each side wall differs so that their position on the car bed cannotbe interchanged. The upper edge of each car side wall is provided withan outward movement restraining catch 46 which is engageable with a padportion 47 on the underside of the roof 12. The car roof is slidablyengageable with the forward and rear car ends, respectively, 20 and 22.Irreversible roof orientation is obtained with respect to the car bed bythe provision of tongue portions 42 and groove portions 44 on the innerside of the car ends. It should be noted that the forward car end has athicker tongue and associated groove than the rearward car end, therebyaccomplishing this one way orientation of the roof to the car bed. Whenthe car roof is placed atop the car ends, the sides of the car may beassembled by the placement of the studs 40 in their respective apertures38 and the upward pivoting of the car sides so that the side catches 46slidably engage the roof pads 47. The car ends 20 and 22 are rigidlysecured to the bed portion 18 and are provided on one side with a wallretaining flange 23. This retaining flange acts to prevent furtherinward motion of the wall 16.

Mounted upon the car bed is an impulse mechanism shown generally at 24.This mechanism comprises an impulse arm 26 pivotally mounted on flanges29 which are formed from punched portions of the car bed 18. The impulsearm 26 is biased by'a coil spring 2 8 so that the free end of the armhas a rest position toward the forward end of the car. An arm latch 30is mounted on a pivot 36 which is formed from bed 18. The arm latch '30has a sear portion 34 cut into an edge thereof at a point above thepivot point 36, Integral with the latch 30 is a safety bar lockingflange 32 which also provides a trigger or release surface which isoperated by the inward motion of the car side wall 14 to thereby releasethe impulse arm from the sear 34.

An aperture 54 in the roof 12 is in vertical alignment with a similarlysized aperture 56 in the base 18. These apertures are spaced so thatafter cocking of the impulse arm 26 a pin 52 may be inserted downwardthrough the apertures to thereby restrain any motion of the triggerrelease surface 32, In this manner, the cooked impulse arm mechanismwill not he accidentally set off by normal jarring. The side wall 14 hasan inwardly projecting trigger shelf 15 which extends for a substantialdistance longitudinally along the side wall and in close proximity tothe trigger flange 3-2 of the arm latch 30'. The shelf 15 acts to limitinward motion of the trigger side wall 14 by light abutment against theflange 32 when the safety bar 52 is in place. When the safety bar isremoved inward motion of the shelf 15 will cause release of the impulsearm.

The horizontal inner edge portion 15a of the shelf cooperates with anoblique portion 25 of the impulse arm 26 during the arm release toproject the side 14 up and outwardly. FIG. 6, illustrates the initialcontact made by the oblique portion 25 upon release of the impulsemechanism. This oblique camming surface acts to outwardly and upwardlypush the trigger wall at approximately the same instant that the roof isfirst being contacted by the free end of the impulse arm 26. It can bereadily seen that upon the release of the impulse arm with thesubsequent jarring of the roof and trigger.wall from the car that theremaining side wall will be unsupported and shaken from its position.This latter wall removal is aided by the inertia of the latch corner 58contacting the side wall 16.

In operation it can easily be seen how a very realistic simulatedexplosion may be accomplished using the mechanism of the car previouslydescribed. To construct the car the impulse arm is latched in a cookedposition and the roof is properly indexed and gently laid in place uponthe car end portions. The locking bar 52 is next inserted into thealigned apertures 54 and 56 to thereby engage the flange 32 and preventaccidental tripping of the impulse mechanism. The side walls 14 and 16are then next located along their lower edges on the sides of the carbed and pivotally raised into a vertical position to engage the edgeportions of the car roof. In this condition the railroad car presents avery normal, structurally complete, appearance and for realism purposesmay be externally marked explosives, handle with care, do not jar, etc,

When a simulated explosion is desired the safety bar need only beremoved and the trigger wall urged inward to release the impulse arm.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 another form of the invention is shownwherein an impulse arm latch 64 has a depending sear portion 66extending beneath the car bed 18. In this embodiment an externalsafetylever 60 is pivoted beneath the car bed on a rivet 68. The safety leverhas an outer end protruding beyond the car side to allow easy access tothe train operator while the inner end is provided with a locking earportion '62 which engages the latch sear 66 to prevent accidentalrelease of the impulse arm 26. In the position shown in FIG. 9 thesafetylever 60 is in a locking position and it can readily be seen how asmall clockwise motion thereof will arm the impulse mechanism to readythe car for .a simulated explosion.

Although the invention has been described in the preferred embodiment ofa railroad car, it is equally suitable for simulating an explosion inany toy vehicle, such as a toy truck or automobile. The conventionalrailroad truck portion shown in dotted lines beneath the car bed 18 isincluded for illustrative purposes only.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the inventionprinciples, it will bezunderstood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:'

l. A model railroad car capable of simulating the efiect of an explosioncomprising a car bed, upstanding car ends secured on said car bed, a carroof slidably secured to said car ends, a spring biased impulse armpivotally secured to said car bed and of a length greater than said carroof to car bed clearance distance,-impulse arm latching means on saidcar bed to hold said arm in a pre-cocked position, a first side wallresting upon a longitudinal edge of said car bed adapted to pivotinwardly about the longitudinal edge of said car bed, means temporarilyengaging said first car side wall upper edge with said car roof toprevent outward motion thereof, a second car side wall resting upon alongitudinal edge of said car bed, means 4 upon said car endstemporarily restraining inward movement of said second side wall, meansupon said car roof temporarily restraining outward movement of saidsecond car wall, and impulse arm unlatching means positioned in closeadjacent relation to an upper inside portion of said first side wall sothat said means is actuated by inward movement of said first car sidewall whereby said spring biased impulse arm will be released from acocked position and contact the car roof and the temporary restraintupon said car side walls will be removed.

2. A collapsible model railroad car comprising a car bed, upstandingimmovably secured car ends mounted on said car bed, first and secondremovable car sides, posi tioning means on the lower edge of said firstand second car sides engageable with said car bed, said positioningmeans allowing both inwardly and outwardly pivotal movement of said carsides on said bed, a car roof supported by said car ends, an impulse armpivotally mounted at one end of said car bed and of suflicient lengthwhen pivoted to contact said car roof, spring means biasing said impulsearm toward one end of said car bed, impulse arm latching means mountedon said car bed to hold said impulse arm in a cocked position, saidimpulse arm latching means including a portion in close adjacentrelation to an upper inside portion of said first car side wall when inan arm latching position, positioning means upon said second car sidewall maintaining it in a substantially vertical position in contact withsaid car bed and roof, and means on the upper edge of said first sidewall engageable with said car roof to restrain outward movement thereofwhereby upon inward motion of said first side wall a portion of saidimpulse arm latching means is contacted to thereby release said cockedimpulse arm.

3. A model railroad car capable of simulating the effect of an explosioncomprising, a car bed having a safety bar receiving aperture therein,upstanding car ends mounted on said car bed, first and second car sides,positioning means on the lower edge of said first and second 'car sidesengageable with said car bed, said positioning means allowing bothinwardly and outwardly pivotal movement of said car sides on said carbed, a car roof having a safety bar receiving aperture in verticalalignment with said car bed aperture, said car roof supported by saidcar ends, an impulse arm pivotably mounted on said car bed and ofsufiicient length when pivoted to contact said car roof, spring meansbiasing said impulse arm toward one end of said car bed, impulse armlatching means mounted on said car bed to hold said impulse arm in acooked position, impulse arm unlatching means in close proximity to anupper portion of said first car side wall, positioning means upon saidsecond car side wall main taining it in a substantially verticalposition in contact with said car ends, bed and roof, means upon theupper edge of said first side wall engageable with said car roof torestrain outward movement thereof whereby upon inward movement of saidfirst side wall said impulse arm unlatching means is actuated to therebyrelease said impulse arm.

4. A toy model'railway car capable of simulating the effect of anexplosion according to claim 3, including in addition, manually operatedsafety means extending through the bed and roof apertures to engage saidimpulse arm and said arm unlatching means to prevent accidental releaseof said impulse means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,300,177 Kohn Apr. 8, 1919 2,472,297 Holt June 7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS284,762 Great Britain Feb. 3, 1928

